Carlton: Don't expect college football controversy to die with the BCS

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Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

Oklahoma State, 2011 (No. 3 in final standings): Brandon Weeden, Joseph Randle and Justin Blackmon had high-scoring OK State outpacing every offense in the country. But with the Cowboys just two wins from a BCS title berth, that potent trio slipped up against Iowa State. Weeden threw three picks, Randle ran for just 49 yards and Blackmon was held to 9.9 YPC as OSU suffered a stunning upset. Some pointed to the emotional hangover from a plane crash that killed two OSU women's basketball coaches the night before. Others said the Cowboys looked ahead to a season capper against OU. Whatever the cause, the loss dropped the Cowboys behind LSU and Bama in the BCS.

WASHINGTON — Everybody who is anybody seems to like the idea of a four-team playoff.

College presidents and conference commissioners extolled its virtues about a mile from the White House. So did a smattering of coaches and athletic directors, including Texas coach Mack Brown and Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt.

Brown has long been a fan of a playoff, as has Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds. Brown became convinced that a playoff was unlikely to happen after researching the BCS following the 2008 season.

But on Tuesday, he called it “an exciting time to be involved in college football. There’s more interest and discussion than ever before, and that’s a great thing for our sport. We’ve all wanted to see improvements to the system we had, and in my opinion, we’re headed in the right direction.”

Via Twitter, Hocutt said: “We have the best regular-season in all of sports and today will only strengthen our product.”

Certainly, the playoff already has an edge on the Bowl Championship Series, which became a symbol for all that was wrong in college athletics.

No wonder the BCS is going away, unmourned and unloved. At least the playoff won’t carry the same baggage to begin with.

Just don’t think controversy will be a thing of the past.

“Just a new wave of controversy,” said former Big 12 acting commissioner and current consultant Chuck Neinas. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott concurred.

While a four-team playoff is an improvement over the BCS, it’s only an incremental step. An eight-team or 16-team playoff would be far more foolproof, if damaging to the bowls. So four became the compromise number.

You can anticipate howls of protest the first time a team ranked fourth or better in the AP Top 25 fails to make the cut.

Here’s a quick primer on what we might see come 2014:

How lucrative is the four-team playoffs?

Huge. The TV bidding could nearly triple the $180 million that the BCS generates annually, according to industry projections.

What’s the bidding process?

Current rights holder ESPN gets first crack at the new deal, during a 30-day negotiating window that begins in the fall. Unless the Worldwide Leader exceeds estimates in a big way, expect BCS commissioners to open up the bidding.

What will the bowl situation look like?

The national semifinals will be played within the existing bowl system, a concession to tradition and the Big Ten, which wanted the Rose Bowl protected at all cost. Instead of the current four top-tier bowls, the number will rise to six, with the Rose and the new Champions Bowls assured slots.

Where do the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic and Cowboys Stadium fit in this?

Very nicely. It would be an upset of Appalachian State proportions if Cowboys Stadium is not in the championship rotation, as part of a partnership with the Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl Classic. The Cotton Bowl Classic has plenty of options, from being part of a six-bowl semifinal rotation to semi-permanent host for the Champions Bowl, pitting the SEC vs. Big 12. Neinas said the Big 12 and SEC would prefer to work with an established bowl for the Champions concept.

Will the lack of a title game possibly hurt the Big 12?

It doesn’t seem that way. The playoff pathway seems much clearer for the Big 12 champion without a title game. Remember Kansas State upsetting No. 1 Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game in 2003? Or Texas needing a favorable clock ruling and a Hunter Lawrence field goal against Nebraska in 2009? Bob Stoops and Brown certainly do.

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